Ever since my dear friend Claire started attending Hunter College in NYC many years ago, I’ve made my way down to The Big City (solo and with cohorts) to experience the delirious energy that is unique to New York as two years bleed together. Since this tradition started, even more friends have made New York City their home. My memories from these trips have always been happy.
Unfortunately, I am only able to see some of these friends maybe once a year, and I find that time flies by faster (not cool) when it is measured by milestones ("oh wow, I've been at this shit job for a year already?!”) and the aforementioned reunions. I get nostalgic insomuch that I don’t want to lose my grasp of the Past and its components that have shaped me into who I am today. Why forget something or someone when you can still use that knowledge, those emotions, to navigate the world?
I do not like to proclaim my New Years Resolutions because I believe actions are stronger than words and the world is filled with enough pseudo-science, emotionally-driven op-eds as it is. BUT! I was inspired the other day by my good friend Jake—who I am immensely proud of—and the piece he published on Medium entitled I Stayed In On The Last Night of 2015 to Plan For The Start of 2016. The piece provided a nice (nice=neat+concise in this case, which has become an increasingly rare occurrence online…) breakdown of what it takes to set goals and to see them through.
Alas, considering one of my goals is to write more (blog posts, screenplays, scenes, letters, postcards, napkin scribbles, phone notes) I’ve decided to share some of my New Years Resolutions/Goals (attempting to utilize Jake’s points) as they occurred to me on the six-hour bus ride back from Brooklyn last night:
- Write More (as in: don’t be afraid to/not allowed to quantify)
- Use Social Media Less (not pulling the holier-than-thou card, just use it in smarter, more bull-shit filtering ways)
- Drink More Water (because it’s never a bad thing, unless you drown yourself)
- Lower my high blood pressure/high cholesterol to below 120/80 and 200mg/dL respectively by cutting back on sodium, meat and dairy/condiments (so I don’t die and my doctor gets off my case already)
- Read 13 books (read 12 books last year, so it’s only onwards and upwards from here…follow me on Goodreads)
- Collaborate with Others in Art (make a film, shoot photography and create other works that I am proud of)
- Ask more questions (in the field and on the job, with friends or coworkers, so that I may learn more and not regret being timid)
- Learn 3 software programs beneficial to my professional development (it’s a cyber world baby)
- Balance Fitness Better (cardio, yoga, strength, meditation, nutrition, hoopin')
- Skateboard more, snowboard more…hell, even surf more (all 3 in one day, very doable)
- Call friends and family more/send more letters and notes (communication requires due-diligence)
PS - Some phone pix from NYE in NYC, coming full circle, as this is primarily a photography website :))) http://bit.ly/1O3OMkH